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A team of cancer specialists
from OncoLink.org, the award-winning cancer Web-based resource
of the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania, has
launched OncoLife™, the first and only individualized
plan-of-care based on the national Institute of Medicine’s
recommendations for adult cancer survivors. |
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Free and easy to use, the new program – soon
to be available in Spanish – provides cancer survivors
with information regarding the health risks they face as a result
of cancer therapies, as well as a defined plan of action to maintain
their health once they are out of treatment. |
> |
Cancer patients have to endure many negative
side effects of treatment, and they don’t all stop once
it is discontinued. |
> |
What distinguishes OncoLink and OncoLife
from other Web-based cancer information resources is that both
are completely run by oncology physicians, nurses and other health
care professional from Penn’s Abramson Cancer Center. |
(PHILADELPHIA) — A team of cancer specialists from OncoLink.org,
the award-winning cancer Web-based resource of the Abramson
Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania, has launched OncoLife, the
first and only individualized plan-of-care based on the national
Institute of Medicine’s recommendations for adult cancer
survivors. Free and easy to use, the new program – soon to
be available in Spanish – provides cancer survivors with
information regarding the health risks they face as a result of
cancer therapies, as well as a defined plan of action to maintain
their health once they are out of treatment.
“The good news for cancer survivors is that their numbers
are growing,” said James Metz, MD, a radiation
oncologist and editor-in-chief of OncoLink. “Thanks to more
successful cancer therapies, an estimated 10 million survivors
are living in the United States today. Unfortunately, cancer treatments
are not without consequences and many of these survivors are dealing
with the long term effects of treatments with little or no guidance.”
The OncoLife program, written for survivors of adult cancer, is
a simple on-line questionnaire that patients, or their caregivers,
can complete.
- First,
survivors go to the OncoLink homepage (http://www.oncolink.org) and
click on the link for the OncoLife page.
- Next,
patients anonymously answer a few demographic questions and seven
disease-specific questions, such as type of cancer, treatment,
chemotherapy, radiation
therapy, and surgery, etc.
- Once
all the questions are answered and submitted, OncoLife produces
a personalized, comprehensive long-term survivorship care plan
for free.
- Participants
are then encouraged to review their personalized plan with their
health care team – primary care physicians, gynecologists,
cardiologists, etc. – to further assess their risk and
become active participants in their own follow-up care.
Cancer patients have to endure many negative side effects of treatment,
and they don’t all stop once it is discontinued. For example,
chemotherapy can cause cognitive impairment. Radiation therapy
administered near the heart or major arteries can cause premature
heart disease. Women treated for Hodgkin’s disease as children run an increased risk of developing breast
cancer as
adults.
“We were getting an increasing number of e-mails at OncoLink
from cancer patients all over the world asking basically the same
thing: ‘Is what’s happening to me a result of
my cancer treatment?’,” said Carolyn
Vachani, RN, MSN, AOCN, oncology nurse educator and creator of
OncoLife. “Often, their own oncologists would tell them, ‘No,
it wasn’t.’ So, as more and more questions about long-term
survivorship came flooding in, we realized how many people didn’t
have reliable health care resources to help them chart a survivorship
plan. We knew we had to help and we knew we had to create a plan
that anyone could access.”
So Vachani, with input from fellow colleagues and OncoLink staff,
devised a simple on-line questionnaire that patients could complete
or caregivers could complete for their loved ones. The result – the
OncoLife Survivorship Care Plan – is a free, easy to understand,
practical tool that patients can use together with to the guidance
of their primary care physician to chart out their health care
future.
What distinguishes OncoLink and OncoLife from other Web-based
cancer information resources is that both are completely run by
oncology physicians, nurses and other health care professional
from Penn’s Abramson Cancer Center. “We’re real
doctors and nurses who see real cancer patients every day,” said Maggie
Hampshire, RN, BSN, OCN, a radiation oncology nurse and
managing editor of OncoLink. “We’re the ones providing
the information on our website and responding to patient inquiries – not
copy writers or PR agency consultants. We don’t just write
about people living with cancer, we’re helping them get on
with life after it.”
# # #
The Abramson Cancer Center (ACC) of the University
of Pennsylvania is a national leader in cancer research,
patient care, and education. The pre-eminent position of the
Cancer Center is reflected in its continuous designation as
a Comprehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute
for 30 years, one of 39 such Centers in the United States.
The ACC is dedicated to innovative and compassionate cancer
care. The clinical program, comprised of a dedicated staff
of physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, social workers,
physical therapists, nutritionists and patient care coordinators,
currently sees over 50,000 outpatient visits, 3400 inpatient
admissions, and provides over 24,000 chemotherapy treatments,
and more than 65,000 radiation treatments. Not only is the
ACC dedicated to providing state-of-the-art cancer care, the
latest forms of cancer prevention, diagnosis, and treatment
are available to our patients through clinical themes that
developed in the relentless pursuit to eliminate the pain and
suffering from cancer. In addition, the ACC is home to the
300 research scientists who work relentlessly to determine
the pathogenesis of cancer. Together, the faculty is committed
to improving the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer.
OncoLink was founded in 1994 by
Penn cancer specialists with a mission to help cancer patients,
families, health care professionals and the general public get
accurate cancer-related information at no charge. Recent changes
have been made to OncoLink to update the look and feel of our
site. OncoLink is designed to make it easy for the general public
to navigate through the pages to obtain the information that
they want. The home page has buttons and hypertext links. If
you click on the buttons or the underlined text with your mouse,
you will go directly to your area of interest. Through OncoLink
you can get comprehensive information about specific types of
cancer, updates on cancer treatments and news about research
advances. We update the information everyday and provide information
at various levels, from introductory to in-depth. If you are
interested in learning about cancer, you will benefit from visiting
OncoLink.
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